Save the Last Dance for Me
by cneko2
Summary: It's that time of the month for InuYasha, who come knocking on the Higurashi household door only to discover Kagome's not there. The Cneko version of a cliched IY fic theme, as well a tribute to how cool Mrs. Higurashi is.


Okay, for awhile there in IY ficdom there was this truly disturbing trend of portraying Mrs. Higurashi as heinous bitch mother extraordinaire. Needless to say, this annoyed me highly. Mostly because I think Mrs. Higurashi is the kewlest mom out there (aside from my own, of course.) I mean, how many moms would let their daughter not only wander about feudal Japan with only a strange half demon boy for company, let alone cover for her? 

Mrs. Higurashi rocks. Nuff said. 

Umm…I'm not entirely sure if they have proms and dances in Japanese Middle Schools, but another short story by Rumiko Takahashi gives me cause to think so…whatever. It's plot important and there I'm taking artistic license. So, nyah. *sticks out tongue in childish gesture*

Disclaimer: Not mine. Otherwise, InuYasha and Kagome would be snuggling a lot more and Kikyou would be…let's not get into that, shall we?

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_Save the Last Dance for Me_

Mrs. Higurashi looked down into the frightened eyes of the teen huddled on her doorstep. "Where's Kagome?" he asked in a slightly annoyed, slightly quivering voice. Her eyes widened. "InuYasha-kun, is that you?"

The boy nodded slightly. Just then, Sota poked his head out under his mother's arm. "Inu no Niichan! Did you come for Neesan? She's off at that stupid dance, ya know."  "Sota!!" The boy gulped and fled in fear of that which all mankind fears; an Angry Mama.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and turned back to the hanyou turned human on her doorstep. "Come in, dear." She moved to the side so that the boy could enter. InuYasha stepped in and stood in the hallway fidgeting with his kimono. "I'm afraid Sota was right despite his rudeness, Kagome isn't here right now. She's at the dance her school is having tonight." She felt maternal instincts surge as fear flashed quickly across the boy's face and was quickly replaced by look of annoyance. 

She approached her next question carefully. "Tonight…tonight is your night, isn't it?" He tensed. "Why don't you go have a seat and I'll fix some tea?" He nodded slowly and walked into the den. 

_Poor Boy_, she thought watching him sit and look around nervously. _All alone during his time of weakness…his best friend now where around…_Now that thought caused her to pause.  Lately, she had noticed her daughter being moody. Kagome had been ignoring Hojo-kun's advances, and with InuYasha's appearance and seeking out Kagome tonight she had all the proof she needed. Even if the two teens wouldn't quite admit it yet. 

Walking to the kitchen to prepare the tea, she mentally went over the situation. The boy had saved the life of not one, but both her children before. Kagome numerous times. He protected her daughter fiercely, which why she never worried obsessively when Kagome was through the well. Sota adored him, he was sweet despite the tough act he put on. And lately, when she spoke of him, Kagome positively glowed. At least when she wasn't angry at him. And, he had come looking for her. 

Mrs. Higurashi grinned. Time to play match maker. 

She glance at the clock, it was 7:30. The dance had begun at 7 and lasted until 10:30. Plenty of time, since boys didn't take nearly as long to get ready as girls. Fixing three cups, she carried the tray out to the den where Inuyasha was still looking around nervously while trying to pretend to watch Sota play PS2. 

"InuYasha-kun, how would you like to surprise Kagome?"

He looked up at her, confused. "I had an idea while I was fixing the tea." She set a cup down in front of him. "Tonight you turn human, which means you can walk around without attracting any unusual attention. What if, I let you use our bath, lend you some clothes, and have Sota show you the way to Kagome's school?" She smiled. "I'm sure some of my late husband's clothes will fit you." 

She watched him think it over, when doubt entered his dark eyes she added, "Kagome-chan has talked so much about you lately, I'm sure she'd love to see you." Smiling as his eyes lit up, Mrs. Higurashi stood. "Sota, will you show InuYasha-kun how the bath works? I'll see if I can't find some clothes for him." 

********

Thirty minutes later, InuYasha stood staring at himself in a mirror. His black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the forelocks handing free. In her husband's old things, Mrs. Higurashi had found a large black sweater that was big enough to be comfortable, but not hinder his movement, should he need to move quickly or defensively. He picked at the odd material of the pants. 'Jeans' she had called them. They were black to match the sweater and had to be rolled up a bit but where otherwise fine. There had been a problem with shoes, which she insisted he had to wear despite several loud protests. That had been solved by a pair of boots that had been too large for her husband, but fit InuYasha fine.

"I swear, I'm going shopping for a spare set of clothes for you to leave here in case this happens again." The older woman smiled. She could definitely see what her daughter saw in the boy. In fact, had she been twenty years younger…

InuYasha looked at his reflection again. He had to admits, he looked pretty damn good despite the weird garments and human features. Stereotypically smug grin No. 23 appeared on his face. 

"Well, I think you're ready." Mrs. Higurashi clapped her hands together and smiled. "Sota," she called out to the little boy. "Would you show InuYasha-kun to Neesan's school?" Sota, who had been playing PS2, walked in. "Wow! You look really cool in a normal sort of way, InuNiichan!" Normal sort of…? InuYasha felt the twitch on his face start up.

"Ara! I almost forgot!" Mrs. Higurashi ran out of the room and returned with her purse. She handed Sota a few 500 yen coins. "Stop by a florist on the way and buy a rose for her." "Rozu?" InuYasha looked confused. "It's a type of flower, it's tradition to give girls flowers at dances." There was that Dog-Caught-In-Headlights look again. "It'll be okay." She reassured him. He just nodded slowly, Dog-Caught-In-Headlights look still firmly affixed in place. 

"Come on, InuNiichan." Sota grabbed the teen's hand and lead him out of the house. Mrs. Higurashi smiled brightly and waved at them from the doorstep. "Don't stay out too late!"

**************

InuYasha gazed up at the building in front of him and sighed. How did he get into this situation again? Oh, right. Kagome. He looked at the strange clothes he was wearing, then to the two red and yellow roses[1] in his hand, set his shoulders, took a deep breath and promptly…

Ran into the shadows and to the side of the building were he wouldn't be seen.

Sota had showed him to the building, said "Go get 'er, tiger.", and ran straight home to his waiting PS2, the little brat. Never mind that he was a _dog_ and not a tiger. There went that twitch again. 

Sighing, he looked around for a tree to stay in and instead noticed a window. Well, he _was_ rather curious about the whole affair. Even to his dulled senses, the music blasting from inside was loud. And the people wandering in and out of the building were strangely dressed. Well, it wouldn't hurt to look…after all, curiosity killed the _cat_, not the dog. 

He peeked in and nearly fell over in shock. What the hell were some of those girls _wearing_? How did their parents let them go around half way dressed like that? And…and to be dancing, at least he assumed it was suppose to be dancing, _that_ close with boys? Were most of these couples already married? 

And then he saw Kagome. Well, at least she wasn't as scantily clad as some of the others…and she didn't seem to be …well, _pressing_ up against a boy on the dance floor. In fact, she was over to the side surround by three girls who seemed to be dressed a bit more scandalously than she. He watched as she laughed and talked with them, deciding that she didn't really need him there and he'd be fine watching from outside. And so he did. For how long he didn't know, he watched Kagome laugh, talk and be happy. He found himself smiling, and seriously wishing he had his normal ears back so that he could have heard her laughter. But she was enjoying herself, and therefore he was enjoying watching her.

Then, something terrible happened. Something awful and horrific. Something that could be described better in lots of big words that he didn't know.  

A _boy_ walked up to her. And from the way her friends were acting, this particular boy was no stranger. He watched with narrowed eyes as her friends pushed her out onto the dance floor with the boy. She blushed and stammered, and worst of all, she _smiled_ at him. He growled. If he had been in his normal form he'd of…he'd of…Screw normal form! He'd go in there right now and…

Just then, a very rare occurrence took place. InuYasha had a thought. Well, it wasn't so much that he had a thought, InuYasha had thoughts all the time. He was just good at making it look like he didn't. No, this was more the thought itself than the fact that he had had it. 

Did he really have the right to go in there the image of jealous vengeance and beat some poor human to a pulp simply for dancing with Kagome? After all, he went chasing after Kikyou all the time right in front of Kagome and she never went after Kikyou's blood.[2] Was that guilt he was feeling? Probably, but he didn't want to think about it. 

He looked back through the window. Kagome had stopped dancing and was busy excusing herself from the boy's company. She looked at the boy and then just happened to glance at the window…straight at him. _Shit!_ He turned to wall quickly. Had she seen? Had she realized? He peeked back in quickly. She was nowhere to be seen. Shit, shit, shit…she was going to think he'd followed her…she was going to 'osuwari' him …she was going to…

"InuYasha? What on earth are you doing here?"

Gulping, he turned slowly towards the sound of the voice. _Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact…_ His dark eyes dart to her and then quickly to the ground again. "Looking for you." He could feel her eyes narrowing. "Didn't I tell you I'd be back later?" "I…" 

He remembered the flowers. 

They were looking a little worse for wear, but he held them out to her anyways. "Your mom said it was tradition to give flowers at these things." Only then did he dare look her in the eye. And breathed a sigh of relief. Her brown eyes were soft and there was a hint of a smile on her face as she accepted the flowers. "Mama told you to come?" she asked. He nodded. "Yeah, she dressed me in these weird clothes and had the kid buy the flowers and show me here." She laughed and came closer. "Why didn't you come in then?"

He looked back through the window, then at her, back through the window, and then back at her again. He said something in a low voice. "What?" He glared slightly and then said. "Crowds freak me out, okay? They normally don't like me and the feeling's mutual. And…I don't really belong in there." He looked at his feet, which still felt strange being enclosed in those boot things.

A warm hand entwined with his. "Don't be silly." He looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "I belong in there, and you belong with me, therefore you belong in there." He opened his mouth to protest as she pulled him along back to the front of the building. "Just for a little while." She said as they paused in front of the double doors. "Just long enough for one dance and for me to say good bye to my friends." 

He looked nervously at the double doors and then at her. She smiled at him. He could do this. He'd fought countless demons, killed ones even his father couldn't defeat. He'd sealed off his own youkai blood; he'd defeated his own full youkai brother several times. He could face down a bunch of teenaged humans for a little while. For her he could do it. For her smile, he felt he could just about anything. Not that he'd ever tell _her_ that. "Let's go then."

And they walked through the double doors together.

**********

"Oh, my…Kagome-chan, who's that?" Screw it. He couldn't do this. He _really_ couldn't do this. They were staring at him, these three girls. They were looking at him like a pack of wolves looks at a lone doe in a meadow. Unconsciously, he stepped a little closer to Kagome. "This is InuYasha." 

Looks of disbelief all around. "No way! _He's_ the self centered, violent, two timer?!" There's that twitch again. Two timer…? Well, he supposed so…but that made it sound so…so…evil. Kagome laughed nervously. "Ahaha…well, I told you all he wasn't that bad. And, look he even brought me flowers!" she held up the two roses. "Ah! Kagome-chan, that's so sweet!" one of them clapped her hands and smiled delighted. The other two gave each other a skeptical look. " 'scuse us a minute." He watch with growing internal horror as the skeptical two dragged Kagome over to a corner while the delighted one followed cheerfully.  Nooo! They were going to make Kagome leave him here alone and horrible things were going to happen and…they were talking about him weren't they?

He inched closer. 

"Kagome, are you insane? Think of how he treats you!" "He's really not that bad…" "But you say he's violent all the time." "Well, he can be sweet when he wants to…" "What's he doing here now of all times? If he really cared about you, wouldn't he have been here with you from the beginning?" "He's…kind of got this thing about crowds…people have never treated him very well, so…" "Why didn't you say he was so cute?" the delighted one asked. Everyone facefaulted. "Wha…" "Kagome, he's the epitome of cute! That hair! The clothes! That bead necklace is so cool.[3]  Those deep violet eyes! And that adorably shy attitude! No wonder you fell so hard."  Kagome smiled.  "Yeah, no wonder." 

The announcement of the last dance of the evening flowed over the speakers. "Sorry, I have to go. I saved this for someone." She smiled mysteriously and left the little circle. 

She walked back over to where InuYasha fidgeted. "So…last dance." "I don't think I can…" "You've been watching all evening, and I'll guide you through the rest." When dealing with a nervous InuYasha it's best not to give him time to think about things. Therefore Kagome grabbed his hand and lead him out to the dance floor. "We're not doing that." He said flatly. "Doing what?" "That weird bumping and grinding dance I saw them doing earlier. I have some dignity and…" he trailed off turning bright red. _It gave me more ideas than I'd care to think about…_Kagome laughed. "No, we're not doing that. This is the wrong kind of song for that. This is a slow song, so we slow dance." She nodded at the couples around them on the floor. They were just kind of…swaying. _Okay_, he thought _I can do that. I think._

_~You can dance, every dance with the guy who gives you the eye and lets you hold him tight. You can smile, every smile for the man who holds your hand against the pale moonlight.~_

Kagome placed her arms around his neck and subtly directed him on how to sway correctly. It was nice, kind of weird, but nice. "Hey, you're suppose to put your hands around my waist." Feeling a faint rush of heat to his cheeks he complied. The song went on, and she drew in a little closer, resting her head on his shoulder. He could smell her scent even with his dull human nose now and it was nice. "I'm glad you came. Truthfully, I was kind of lonely without you around." "Feh. Thank your mother, this was all her idea." He could feel her smile against his shoulder. "I will." Yeah, this was nice.

_~But don't forget who's taking you home, and in who's arms you're gonna be. So darling, save the last dance for me.~_

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Author's notes:

And thus is my contribution to a cliché IY fic premise complete. Hope y'all enjoyed and didn't think it was too terribly clichéd. 

1. In the language of flowers, red roses mean true love and yellow roses mean friendship. I always like to think of InuYasha and Kagome as best friends as well as soulmates.

2. No, she doesn't. But that doesn't stop the author from thinking that she should one of these days.

3.  *snicker* Rosary bead necklaces! All the rage this year for guys! Get one for your boyfriend and 'osuwari' him if he does anything to piss you off. Buy your boyfriend's today!

The song was 'Save the Last Dance For Me' by the Drifters. (gee, wonder where the title came from). Yes, it's English…but, dude, have you heard how much American music they listen to over in Japan? 

Lookit. It's a shiny review button. Feed it.


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